History created! Ons Jabeur becomes the first Arab woman to reach the quarterfinals of Wimbledon


History created! Ons Jabeur becomes the first Arab woman to reach the quarterfinals of Wimbledon

Ons Jabeur

Tunisian star, Ons Jabeur creates history yet again and becomes the first Arab woman to reach the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. The 21st seed got the better of 2020 French Open champion, Iga Swiatek in three sets 5-7,6-1,6-1 in the Round of 16. Jabeur dominated the later stages of the match with her innovative and powerful baseline gameplay.

ADVERTISEMENT

This is Jabeur’s second grand slam quarterfinal. In the 2020 Australian Open she became the first Arab woman to reach the last 8 of a major and would like to go even deeper at Wimbledon 2021. She also becomes the first Arab player to reach the last 8 at the All England Club since 1974.

In her Wimbledon 2021 run, Jabeur has now defeated three grand slam champions, Venus Williams, Garbine Muguruza and Iga Swiatek, which makes her quarterfinal entry even more mesmerizing. The Tunisian will now face second seed Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinal on Tuesday.

Gritty Jabeur battles past Swiatek

Ons Jabeur
Ons Jabeur

Jabeur came from a set down against Swiatek to win the match comfortably. But this isn’t the first time Jabeur has shown tremendous mental strength. She came from a set down against Muguruza in the third round too. Interestingly, she was sick and even vomited in the corner of the court during her third round match. But she got back up and passed with flying colours, which speaks volumes about her mental strength.

ADVERTISEMENT

“It bothers me probably with the stress, fatigue, everything,” Jabeur said. “Sometimes when I drink water, the water doesn’t go through any more. That’s why I get sick. Honestly, I don’t want to interrupt the players, so I try to get rid of it and just continue playing.”

Swiatek gave her a very tough fight in the opening set and manage to edge past her by breaking late. But the Tunisian came with a different gameplay of keeping the ball low in the remaining two sets. She dropped just 2 games in those sets and came victorious.

Also read: Wimbledon 2021: Sania Mirza/Rohan Bopanna vs Andreja Klepac/Jean-Julien Rojer Preview, Head to Head and Prediction